Top 5: Reasons to see Monsters University

Like tons of others, I went to see Monsters University. It earned $82 million in it’s opening weekend and is the second highest grossing Pixar film, behind Toy Story 3. What does that say about the film? People were foaming at the mouth to see more of Mike and Sully, or maybe that this film was marketed well by Disney-Pixar and it appealed to all demographics, or maybe that this film seemed like some sort of saving grace for Pixar after Cars 2 and Brave not hitting home runs. Any way that you want to answer the question, it’s all true. Monsters University was a great prequel to Monsters Inc. and the two films together make a great duo. Myself? I have several reasons to go see Monsters University. Here are my top 5 reasons.

#5-The College Movie Genre. I’m a big fan of films like Animal House, Road Trip, Van Wilder, and Revenge of the Nerds. Despite them all not being PG (more like rated R) these films have become staples amongst a genre that no animation studio has attempted to take on. For good reasons, animation and family film studios have steered clear of the raunch-filled college comedies. That is, until now. Pixar decided to attempt a college film that was funny and had all the excitement you get with the frat houses and first days of school, but leaving out all of the sex and curse words. What they made was a brilliant movie about how all of our favorite monsters met and the fun that they had during their college years. This film by itself, wouldn’t work as a college film, but as a prequel to Monsters Inc., it seems like a no brainer. Pixar attempts the genre specific film and does it really well.

#4-The Continued Awesomeness in Graphics. Brave showed us how photo realistic the world could be in a CG animated film. They continue that here. In Monstropolis, everything is colorful and exciting and cartoon-ish, but when the Monsters cross over into the real world (Somewhat of a spoiler. Sorry!) we are met with a world that feels like ours. The trees, the lake, the cabin. It all feels like something we could see on a summer vacation. The Monsters really shine in the real world as well due to their mismatching colors in this world. Along with the realism, we get these great shots of monsters. Sully’s hair moves so well and you can see each of his hairs, as well as with other characters like Art. Pixar continues to step up their game in graphics and really show why they are the leaders in the CG animation field.

#3-Cameos from Monsters Inc. This film packs in lots of surprises including some cameos from characters in Monsters Inc. Roz, Little Mikey, and Randall, the Abominable Snowman,and George all make appearances in the film and we get to see them before their adventure in Monsters Inc. I enjoyed these throwbacks to the original film. As well as these cameos, we also get to see the luxo ball, A113, and the Pizza Planet truck, like we do in most Pixar films.

#2-Voice Talent. Out of all of the Pixar films, I think this is my favorite as far as voice actors go. Pixar really stepped in to give us newer, younger names. Of course Billy Crystal, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi are still involved in the film, but we have newcomers like Nathan Fillion, SNL funnymen Bill Hader and Bobby Moynihan, Aubrey Plaza from Parks and Recreation, and my favorite, Always Sunny’s Charlie Day. The characters are brought to life by a wonderful cast of voices and you don’t even realize who some of the actors are until reading the credits. (That’s Pixar! Giving me a good story that I don’t care about the voices.) Looking back, I could hear all of these guys in my head and I loved all of their parts. It made for a better comedy and a much more entertaining film overall.

#1-The Friendship Between Mike and Sully. At the heart of this film, we aren’t really getting all of the other aforementioned things. We are supposed to really see the beginnings of a friendship between Mike and Sully. Due to the nature of that, this film really has a lot of soul and I came out of the theater thinking that these characters are better friends than Woody and Buzz. It’s amazing how wonderful the writing is for these two characters and how they are pushed to the edge together, only to be forced into being best friends and eventually, they bond on a great level and need each other.

Did you see Monsters University? What did you think of the film? What do you think of my list? Would you recommend it to others? Leave your thoughts and comments and be sure to come back often,

My whole family loved Monsters University. My favorite was all the cameos of characters from Monsters Inc. I think Monsters University will always hold a special place in my heart since it was the first movie my daughter saw in a movie theater. 🙂

Hopefully I can take my daughter to see MU this week. I’ve been dying to see it ever since we saw Monsters, Inc. in 3D. I love the way Pixar and Disney films can draw you into a completely believable imaginary world, as opposed to the many ridiculously silly movies that just play off kids’ humor.